About George A. Smith, Apostle, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Wikipdedia Biographical Summary:

"...George Albert Smith (June 26, 1817 – September 1, 1875) (commonly known as George A. Smith to distinguish him from his grandson of the same name) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement and served in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and as a member of the church's First Presidency.

Smith was born in Potsdam, St. Lawrence County, New York, the son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman, and a nephew of Joseph Smith, Sr..."

George Albert Smith is generally called George A. Smith to differentiate him from his grandson and namesake, George Albert Smith who served as President of the Church from 1945 until his death in 1951.

George was born June 26, 1817 in Potsdam, New York, the son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. He was raised as a Congregationalist but failed to receive spiritual edification from the sect. When his uncle, Joseph Smith, Sr. and Cousin Don Carlos Smith left a copy of the Book of Mormon at his father's home, George read it and had certain objections. These, however, were answered to his satisfaction by the two missionaries. As he criticized Congregational doctrine more strongly, the Reverend Frederick C. Cannon "sealed him up unto damnation."

George was baptized September 10, 1832 by Joseph Wakefield. In May of 1833, he and his parents joined the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. A year later, he accompanied his cousin, the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. on Zion's Camp, a military expedition intended to relieve the suffering Saints in Missouri. In 1835, George was ordained a Seventy and set apart as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. thus becoming a General Authority.

By 1839, Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde had been removed from the Twelve for apostasy. David W. Patten had suffered the martyr's fate in Missouri. George A. Smith was ordained an Apostle April 26, 1839 at Far West, Missouri by Heber C. Kimball to bring the Quorum back up to strength.

Remaining faithful, George and his family made the trek west and joined the Saints in the Great Basin. He was set apart as First Counselor to President Brigham Young on October 7, 1868 after the death of Heber C. Kimball. He served as President Young's emissary many years, more particularly in colonizing southern Utah. St. George, Utah is named for him. He was active in civic and public affairs as well as in the Church. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant General in the territorial militia and was elected territorial senator. During the Utah War he led the saints' southern flank.

George A. Smith died September 1, 1875 in Salt Lake City.

Bibliography

Smith, History of the Church, multiple citations, see index

Lyndon W. Cook, The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.275

Andrew Jenson, LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p.37

Lawrence R. Flake, Prophets and Apostles of the Last Dispensation, p.173

2005 Church Almanac, p.57

Selected Discourses and Writings

TITLE

LOCATION & DATE

Letter to Orson Hyde

In re: Oliver Cowdery's Return to the Church Council Bluffs, October 31, 1848

A Pleading in Territorial Court

On the Trial of Howard Egan For the Murder of James Monroe. US Territorial Court of Utah, October 1851

Liberty and Persecution Old Adobe Tabernacle, July 24, 1852

Reminiscences of Past Scenes

An Address To the Children of the Procession for Pioneer Day. The Old Adobe Tabernacle, SLC, July 24, 1854

This appears to be President Smith's last General Conference address. He did not speak in the April 1875 Conference and he was dead by the following October. General Conference, April 1874

Mountain Meadows massacre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mountain Meadows massacre was a mass slaughter of the Fancher-Baker emigrant wagon train at Mountain Meadows, Utah Territory, by the local Mormon militia on September 11, 1857. It began as an attack, quickly turned into a siege, and eventually culminated in the execution of the unarmed emigrants after their surrender. All of the party except for seventeen children under eight years old—about 120 men, women, and children—were killed.[1] After the massacre, the corpses of the victims were left decomposing for two years on the open plain,[2] their children were distributed to local Mormon families, and many of their possessions auctioned off at the Latter Day Saint Cedar City tithing office.[3]

The Arkansas emigrants were passing through the Utah territory at a tense time in the Utah War when 2,500 troops sent by President Buchanan were approaching with orders to restore US authority in the territory. Mormon leaders had been mustering militia and making defiant speeches stating their determination to mount a defense.[4] The emigrants stopped to rest and regroup their approximately 800 head of cattle at Mountain Meadows, a valley within the Iron County Military District of the Nauvoo Legion (the popular designation for the Mormon militia of the Utah Territory).[5]

Initially intending to orchestrate an Indian massacre,[6] local militia leaders including Isaac C. Haight and John D. Lee conspired to lead militiamen disguised as Native Americans along with a contingent of Paiute tribesmen in an attack. The emigrants fought back and a siege ensued. When the Mormons discovered that they had been identified as the attacking force by the emigrants, Col. William H. Dame, head of the Iron County Brigade of the Utah militia, ordered their annihilation.[7] Intending to leave no witnesses of Mormon complicity in the siege and also intending to prevent reprisals that would complicate the Utah War, militiamen induced the emigrants to surrender and give up their weapons. After escorting the emigrants out of their hasty fortification, the militiamen and their tribesmen auxiliaries executed the emigrants. Investigations, interrupted by the U.S. Civil War, resulted in nine indictments in 1874. Only John D. Lee was tried in a court of law, and after two trials, he was convicted. On March 23, 1877 a firing squad executed Lee at the massacre site.

Historians attribute the massacre to a combination of factors including war hysteria fueled by millennialism and strident Mormon teachings by senior LDS leaders including Brigham Young.[8] These teachings included doctrines about God's vengeance against those who had killed Mormon prophets, some of whom were from Arkansas. Scholars debate whether the massacre was caused by any direct involvement by Brigham Young,[9] who was never officially charged and denied any wrongdoing. However, the predominant academic position is that Young and other church leaders helped provide the conditions which made the massacre possible.[10]

The Mountain Meadows massacre was caused in part by events relating to the Utah War, an 1857 deployment toward the Utah Territory of the United States Army, whose arrival was peaceful. In the summer of 1857, however, the Mormons expected an all-out invasion of apocalyptic significance. From July to September 1857, Mormon leaders and their followers prepared for a siege that could have ended up similar to the seven-year Bleeding Kansas problem occurring at the time. Mormons were required to stockpile grain, and were enjoined against selling grain to emigrants for use as cattle feed. As far-off Mormon colonies retreated, Parowan and Cedar City became isolated and vulnerable outposts. Brigham Young sought to enlist the help of Indian tribes in fighting the "Americans", encouraging them to steal cattle from emigrant trains, and to join Mormons in fighting the approaching army.[67]

In August 1857, Mormon apostle George A. Smith, of Parowan, set out on a tour of southern Utah, instructing Mormons to stockpile grain. Scholars have asserted that Smith's tour, speeches, and personal actions contributed to the fear and tension in these communities, and influenced the decision to attack and destroy the Baker-Fancher emigrant train near Mountain Meadows, Utah. He met with many of the eventual participants in the massacre, including W. H. Dame, Isaac Haight, John D. Lee and Chief Jackson, leader of a band of Pah-Utes.[68] He noted that the militia was organized and ready to fight, and that some of them were eager to "fight and take vengeance for the cruelties that had been inflicted upon us in the States."[69] While on his return trip to Salt Lake City, Smith camped near the Fancher party on the 25th at Corn Creek, (near present-day Kanosh, Utah) 70 miles north of Parowan. They had traveled the 165 south from Salt Lake City and Jacob Hamblin suggested that the Fanchers stop and rest their cattle at Mountain Meadows which was adjacent to his homestead. Brevet Major Carleton's report records Jacob Hamblin's account that the train was alleged to have poisoned a spring near Corn Creek (near present-day Kanosh, Utah) that killed 18 head of cattle and resulted in the deaths of two or three people (including the son of Mr Robinson) who ate the dead cattle. Most witnesses said that the Fanchers were in general a peaceful party whose members behaved well along the trail. Among Smith's party were a number of Paiute Indian chiefs from the Mountain Meadows area. When Smith returned to Salt Lake, Brigham Young met with these leaders on September 1, 1857 and encouraged them to fight against the "Americans" in the anticipated clash with the U.S. Army. They were also "given" all of the livestock then on the road to California, which included that belonging to the Fancher party. The Indian chiefs were reluctant, and at least one objected they had previously been told not to steal, and declined the offer.[70] Some scholars theorize, however, that the leaders returned to Mountain Meadows and participated in the massacre.[citation needed] However, it is uncertain whether they would have had time to do so.[citation needed]

George Albert Smith (1817-1875) - Second in command of the Mormon Church at the time of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, it is not known as to whether Smith had prior knowledge of the attack that took place upon the Fancher-Baker wagon train. However, as second in command in the military hierarchy, he, as well as his superior, Brigham Young, are culpable under the military rules of accountability. Further, there is little question that he was involved in the cover-up that followed the tragedy.

George Albert Smith was born on June 26, 1817 to John Smith and Clarissa Lyman, he was a nephew of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church. His family moved to Kirtland, Ohio, the headquarters of the Church in 1833. From 1835 to 1837, he served as a missionary in the eastern states. In 1838, he moved with family to Missouri and the following year, was was ordained an Apostle and member of the Quorum of the Twelve.

More than a decade later, he led a large party to Utah, arriving in 1851 and soon established a colony in Iron County in 1851, which they named Parowan.

By 1857, Smith was second in command of the Mormon Church and Brigham Young's personal emissary. In August, 1857, Young sent him to alert the Southern Mormons of the threat of the coming U.S. army. These remote communities, still caught up in the throes of the Reformation, a rejuvenation movement initiated by Church leaders in 1856-1857 to rekindle faith and testimony throughout the Church, were especially receptive to Smith's message of hate and vengeance. In addition to the warning, Smith was tasked with preparing the people for war, both psychologically and militarily.

Historians believe that Smith's speeches contributed to the fear and tension in these communities, influencing decision to attack and destroy the Baker-Fancher wagon train.

In 1868, Smith was made the First Counselor under Church President Brigham Young, a position he held until his death on September 1, 1875. During his lifetime, Smith married six women, who bore him 20 children.

Mountain Meadows Massacre Assassins

Though there were a number of participants who had a hand in the tragedy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, this list comprises those who were the primary participants and/or assassins from a historical perspective. In actuality, there were more than 50 men who took part in the massacre, none of whom were ever disciplined by the Mormon Church. And of the primary participants, only John D. Lee ever stood trial, and that would be 18 years after the tragedy. He was convicted and executed in 1876.

THE WIVES AND CHILDREN OF GEORGE A. SMITH (1817-75),

FATHER OF JOHN HENRY SMITH

Bathsheba Wilson Bigler (1822-1910)

George Albert (1842-60)

Bathsheba Kate [Merrill] (1844-1920)

John (1847)

Lucy Messerve Smith (1817-92)

Two sons died in infancy.

Nancy Clement (1815-47)

One child died in infancy.

Zilpha Stark (1818-78)

Two died in infancy.

Mary Amelia [Wimmer] (1852-1915)

Sarah Ann Libbey (1818-51)

John Henry (1848-1911)

Hannah Maria Libbey (1828-1906)

Two died in infancy.

Charles Warren (1849-1903)

Sarah Maria [Colton] (1856-1912)

Grace Libbey [Cheever] (1865-1939)

Reared John Henry after his mother's death.

Susan Elizabeth West (1833-1935)

Clarissa [Williams] (1859-1930)

Margaret [Parry] (1862-1913)

Elizabeth [Cartwright] (1866-1921)

Priscilla [Taylor] (1869-1907)

Emma Pearl (1871-1905)

Utah Deaths and Burials, 1888-1946 for George Albert Smith

Name George Albert Smith

Gender Male

Death Date 01 Sep 1875

Death Place Salt Lake City, Salt Lake, Utah

Age

Birth Date 26 Jun 1817

Birthplace Potsdam, St. Lawrence, N. York

Father's Name Saml Smith

Mother's Name Clarissa L. Smith

Indexing Project (Batch) Number B54933-4

System Origin Utah-EASy

Source Film Number 26553

Reference Number P.174 #6948

--------------------

1817 - 1875

Born 1817 Potsdam, New York

Baptized 1832

Participated in Zion's Camp 1834

Ordained Seventy and called to First Quorum of Seventy 1835

Ordained Apostle and called to Quorum of Twelve 1839

First Counselor to Brigham Young 1868-75

Died 1875 Salt Lake City, Utah

George Albert Smith is generally called George A. Smith to differentiate him from his grandson and namesake, George Albert Smith who served as President of the Church from 1945 until his death in 1951.

George was born June 26, 1817 in Potsdam, New York, the son of John Smith and Clarissa Lyman. He was raised as a Congregationalist but failed to receive spiritual edification from the sect. When his uncle, Joseph Smith, Sr. and Cousin Don Carlos Smith left a copy of the Book of Mormon at his father's home, George read it and had certain objections. These, however, were answered to his satisfaction by the two missionaries. As he criticized Congregational doctrine more strongly, the Reverend Frederick C. Cannon "sealed him up unto damnation."

George was baptized September 10, 1832 by Joseph Wakefield. In May of 1833, he and his parents joined the Saints in Kirtland, Ohio. A year later, he accompanied his cousin, the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. on Zion's Camp, a military expedition intended to relieve the suffering Saints in Missouri. In 1835, George was ordained a Seventy and set apart as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. thus becoming a General Authority.

By 1839, Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde had been removed from the Twelve for apostasy. David W. Patten had suffered the martyr's fate in Missouri. George A. Smith was ordained an Apostle April 26, 1839 at Far West, Missouri by Heber C. Kimball to bring the Quorum back up to strength.

Remaining faithful, George and his family made the trek west and joined the Saints in the Great Basin. He was set apart as First Counselor to President Brigham Young on October 7, 1868 after the death of Heber C. Kimball. He served as President Young's emissary many years, more particularly in colonizing southern Utah. St. George, Utah is named for him. He was active in civic and public affairs as well as in the Church. He rose to the rank of Lieutenant General in the territorial militia and was elected territorial senator. During the Utah War he led the saints' southern flank.

George A. Smith died September 1, 1875 in Salt Lake City.

Bibliography

Smith, History of the Church, multiple citations, see index

Lyndon W. Cook, The Revelations of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.275

Andrew Jenson, LDS Biographical Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, p.37

Lawrence R. Flake, Prophets and Apostles of the Last Dispensation, p.173

2005 Church Almanac, p.57

Selected Discourses and Writings

TITLE

LOCATION & DATE

Letter to Orson Hyde

In re: Oliver Cowdery's Return to the Church Council Bluffs, October 31, 1848

A Pleading in Territorial Court

On the Trial of Howard Egan For the Murder of James Monroe. US Territorial Court of Utah, October 1851

Liberty and Persecution Old Adobe Tabernacle, July 24, 1852

Reminiscences of Past Scenes

An Address To the Children of the Procession for Pioneer Day. The Old Adobe Tabernacle, SLC, July 24, 1854

This appears to be President Smith's last General Conference address. He did not speak in the April 1875 Conference and he was dead by the following October. General Conference, April 1874

Mountain Meadows massacre

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Mountain Meadows massacre was a mass slaughter of the Fancher-Baker emigrant wagon train at Mountain Meadows, Utah Territory, by the local Mormon militia on September 11, 1857. It began as an attack, quickly turned into a siege, and eventually culminated in the execution of the unarmed emigrants after their surrender. All of the party except for seventeen children under eight years old—about 120 men, women, and children—were killed.[1] After the massacre, the corpses of the victims were left decomposing for two years on the open plain,[2] their children were distributed to local Mormon families, and many of their possessions auctioned off at the Latter Day Saint Cedar City tithing office.[3]

The Arkansas emigrants were passing through the Utah territory at a tense time in the Utah War when 2,500 troops sent by President Buchanan were approaching with orders to restore US authority in the territory. Mormon leaders had been mustering militia and making defiant speeches stating their determination to mount a defense.[4] The emigrants stopped to rest and regroup their approximately 800 head of cattle at Mountain Meadows, a valley within the Iron County Military District of the Nauvoo Legion (the popular designation for the Mormon militia of the Utah Territory).[5]

Initially intending to orchestrate an Indian massacre,[6] local militia leaders including Isaac C. Haight and John D. Lee conspired to lead militiamen disguised as Native Americans along with a contingent of Paiute tribesmen in an attack. The emigrants fought back and a siege ensued. When the Mormons discovered that they had been identified as the attacking force by the emigrants, Col. William H. Dame, head of the Iron County Brigade of the Utah militia, ordered their annihilation.[7] Intending to leave no witnesses of Mormon complicity in the siege and also intending to prevent reprisals that would complicate the Utah War, militiamen induced the emigrants to surrender and give up their weapons. After escorting the emigrants out of their hasty fortification, the militiamen and their tribesmen auxiliaries executed the emigrants. Investigations, interrupted by the U.S. Civil War, resulted in nine indictments in 1874. Only John D. Lee was tried in a court of law, and after two trials, he was convicted. On March 23, 1877 a firing squad executed Lee at the massacre site.

Historians attribute the massacre to a combination of factors including war hysteria fueled by millennialism and strident Mormon teachings by senior LDS leaders including Brigham Young.[8] These teachings included doctrines about God's vengeance against those who had killed Mormon prophets, some of whom were from Arkansas. Scholars debate whether the massacre was caused by any direct involvement by Brigham Young,[9] who was never officially charged and denied any wrongdoing. However, the predominant academic position is that Young and other church leaders helped provide the conditions which made the massacre possible.[10]

The Mountain Meadows massacre was caused in part by events relating to the Utah War, an 1857 deployment toward the Utah Territory of the United States Army, whose arrival was peaceful. In the summer of 1857, however, the Mormons expected an all-out invasion of apocalyptic significance. From July to September 1857, Mormon leaders and their followers prepared for a siege that could have ended up similar to the seven-year Bleeding Kansas problem occurring at the time. Mormons were required to stockpile grain, and were enjoined against selling grain to emigrants for use as cattle feed. As far-off Mormon colonies retreated, Parowan and Cedar City became isolated and vulnerable outposts. Brigham Young sought to enlist the help of Indian tribes in fighting the "Americans", encouraging them to steal cattle from emigrant trains, and to join Mormons in fighting the approaching army.[67]

In August 1857, Mormon apostle George A. Smith, of Parowan, set out on a tour of southern Utah, instructing Mormons to stockpile grain. Scholars have asserted that Smith's tour, speeches, and personal actions contributed to the fear and tension in these communities, and influenced the decision to attack and destroy the Baker-Fancher emigrant train near Mountain Meadows, Utah. He met with many of the eventual participants in the massacre, including W. H. Dame, Isaac Haight, John D. Lee and Chief Jackson, leader of a band of Pah-Utes.[68] He noted that the militia was organized and ready to fight, and that some of them were eager to "fight and take vengeance for the cruelties that had been inflicted upon us in the States."[69] While on his return trip to Salt Lake City, Smith camped near the Fancher party on the 25th at Corn Creek, (near present-day Kanosh, Utah) 70 miles north of Parowan. They had traveled the 165 south from Salt Lake City and Jacob Hamblin suggested that the Fanchers stop and rest their cattle at Mountain Meadows which was adjacent to his homestead. Brevet Major Carleton's report records Jacob Hamblin's account that the train was alleged to have poisoned a spring near Corn Creek (near present-day Kanosh, Utah) that killed 18 head of cattle and resulted in the deaths of two or three people (including the son of Mr Robinson) who ate the dead cattle. Most witnesses said that the Fanchers were in general a peaceful party whose members behaved well along the trail. Among Smith's party were a number of Paiute Indian chiefs from the Mountain Meadows area. When Smith returned to Salt Lake, Brigham Young met with these leaders on September 1, 1857 and encouraged them to fight against the "Americans" in the anticipated clash with the U.S. Army. They were also "given" all of the livestock then on the road to California, which included that belonging to the Fancher party. The Indian chiefs were reluctant, and at least one objected they had previously been told not to steal, and declined the offer.[70] Some scholars theorize, however, that the leaders returned to Mountain Meadows and participated in the massacre.[citation needed] However, it is uncertain whether they would have had time to do so.[citation needed]

George Albert Smith (1817-1875) - Second in command of the Mormon Church at the time of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, it is not known as to whether Smith had prior knowledge of the attack that took place upon the Fancher-Baker wagon train. However, as second in command in the military hierarchy, he, as well as his superior, Brigham Young, are culpable under the military rules of accountability. Further, there is little question that he was involved in the cover-up that followed the tragedy.

George Albert Smith was born on June 26, 1817 to John Smith and Clarissa Lyman, he was a nephew of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church. His family moved to Kirtland, Ohio, the headquarters of the Church in 1833. From 1835 to 1837, he served as a missionary in the eastern states. In 1838, he moved with family to Missouri and the following year, was was ordained an Apostle and member of the Quorum of the Twelve.

More than a decade later, he led a large party to Utah, arriving in 1851 and soon established a colony in Iron County in 1851, which they named Parowan.

By 1857, Smith was second in command of the Mormon Church and Brigham Young's personal emissary. In August, 1857, Young sent him to alert the Southern Mormons of the threat of the coming U.S. army. These remote communities, still caught up in the throes of the Reformation, a rejuvenation movement initiated by Church leaders in 1856-1857 to rekindle faith and testimony throughout the Church, were especially receptive to Smith's message of hate and vengeance. In addition to the warning, Smith was tasked with preparing the people for war, both psychologically and militarily.

Historians believe that Smith's speeches contributed to the fear and tension in these communities, influencing decision to attack and destroy the Baker-Fancher wagon train.

In 1868, Smith was made the First Counselor under Church President Brigham Young, a position he held until his death on September 1, 1875. During his lifetime, Smith married six women, who bore him 20 children.

Mountain Meadows Massacre Assassins

Though there were a number of participants who had a hand in the tragedy of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, this list comprises those who were the primary participants and/or assassins from a historical perspective. In actuality, there were more than 50 men who took part in the massacre, none of whom were ever disciplined by the Mormon Church. And of the primary participants, only John D. Lee ever stood trial, and that would be 18 years after the tragedy. He was convicted and executed in 1876.